Consider the tenure of the following Presidents of India and arrange them in correct chronological order starting from earliest to the last.
1. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
2. K.R. Narayanan
3. A.P.J. Abdul K

Question

Consider the tenure of the following Presidents of India and arrange them in correct chronological order starting from earliest to the last.
1. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
2. K.R. Narayanan
3. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
4. R. Venkataraman
Select the correct answer from the code given below :

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, 1, 4, 2, 3, that is Neelam Sanjiva Reddy → R. Venkataraman → K. R. Narayanan → A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the 6th President of India and held office from 25 July 1977 to 25 July 1982. R. Venkataraman was the 8th President, from 25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992. K. R. Narayanan was the 10th President, from 25 July 1997 to 25 July 2002. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was the 11th President, from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007 — he took office on the very day Narayanan demitted it. The four are not consecutive: Zail Singh (7th, 1982-87) sits between Reddy and Venkataraman, and Shankar Dayal Sharma (9th, 1992-97) between Venkataraman and Narayanan.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) It puts R. Venkataraman ahead of Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Venkataraman's term began on 25 July 1987, five years after Reddy's had already ended on 25 July 1982. The rest of the sequence is right, so this is the option for a candidate who knows Narayanan preceded Kalam but has no fix on the 1970s and 1980s.  (c) Two errors compounded — Venkataraman placed before Reddy, and Kalam placed before Narayanan. Kalam succeeded Narayanan directly on 25 July 2002, so no ordering that puts Kalam earlier can stand.  (d) The opening pair is right, and then the last two are swapped: it makes Kalam precede Narayanan. Narayanan's term ran 1997-2002 and Kalam's 2002-2007, back to back. This is the trap option, because it differs from the correct answer only in that final reversal.

Concept: The President is the constitutional head of the Union executive under Article 52 onwards. Article 54 vests the election in an electoral college of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the State legislative assemblies, voting by proportional representation with a single transferable vote under Article 55. Article 56 fixes a five-year term from the date the President enters office, and Article 57 allows re-election. Because Presidents have generally served full terms since 1977, the office turns over on a tidy five-year rhythm, which is what makes a chronology question like this answerable from a single anchor date.

State PCS 2025 Q58 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q58 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer